


Late Night Tea

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Set in 4B [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 20:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15372516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: Robin and Regina have a much needed talk about her being a mother to his child, her infertility and their happily ever after.





	Late Night Tea

The kitchen light is dim when he finds her. She’s sitting at the counter with a furrowed brow and tense, slumped shoulders as she nurses a cup of tea. Before her is Henry’s storybook and he can see an the image she’s fixated on–the Evil Queen in all her glory.

“Can’t sleep?” He asks rhetorically as her eyes meet his.

“Just wanted some tea,” she murmurs as her eyes return to the pages.

He sighs and kisses her cheek as he leans on the counter beside her, “You should have woken me. I’d have gladly made you tea…kept you company.”

“You’re sweet,” she tells him, once more looking up at him. But this time, she smiles. “And I should have. It’s not as good when I make it.”

Chuckling softly, he takes a sip of the tea, then pours it out and starts a new pot. He looks back at her, and notices her attention has refocused on the book. “Anything you want to…talk about?” He asks coolly, trying to mask the worry in his voice.

She’s quiet for a few minutes, staring down at the book instead of replying. The whistle on the kettle blows, and Robin glances back at her as he fills two cups with the hot water. Still, she says nothing and he sinks two bags into the cups, and sets a timer.

Crossing back across the kitchen, he slides onto a stool beside her, and he smiles as her fingers wrap around his wrist and trace his tattoo.

“I was just thinking about how different my story could have been, had I chose you and not vengeance, had I just had the courage to walk into that bar.” She looks up at him, and his hand slides to her back, gently rubbing in a circular pattern. “In spite of everything, even on terrible days…I’m happy with you, and Henry and Roland. I just wonder what it would have been like to…know that feeling sooner.”

“I think about that, too, sometimes,” he murmurs. “How different our lives might have been.”

“But the thing is, I just…can’t. No matter how hard I try, I can’t. Because I can’t even envision a life without Henry, without Roland.”

“They’re certainly bright spots in our lives.”

“The brightest,” Regina agrees. Again she grows quiet; and again, he waits. “I just can’t help but think had I walked not that bar, Zelena would have never been able to do the terrible things she’s done to you.”

“What Zelena did isn’t your fault.”

“Still, everything she did to you, she did to hurt me.” He presses his lips to her hair, “Tinkerbell said that I ruined your life…what if this is what she meant?”

“That’s absurd.”

“Is it?” She counters, her eyebrows arching to reveal her tired, teary eyes. “Your memories of Marian are tainted, that wound was reopened so you have to grieve her all over again and…and Zelena is carrying a child that will be a constant reminder of that.”

Their eyes meet at that, and he feels his mouth go dry. The timer sounds and she looks away, and reluctantly, he slides away from her.

Taking a breath, he grabs the tea cups and slides one toward her. “I…don’t see the baby that way.”

She nods and focuses down on the book, her fingers curling tightly around the cup. And his heart breaks–there was no avoiding this conversation, though he’s tried in an effort to spare her feelings.

“I know we haven’t talked much about it…”

“I’m not asking you to choose,” she interjects. “I would never ask you to put my feelings above your child.”

“I know,” he tells her meekly. “It’s one of the things I love most about you–that no matter what, our children come first.” Grimacing, he rubs his hand over his brow. “Regina, I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to…”

“But I do–I do have something to apologize for.” He takes a breath as though bracing himself. “I may not have chosen to sleep with Zelena, I may not have known how she was manipulating the situation, but I did make a choice to start over with Marian. I thought I owed it to her, and I chose to sleep with her.”

“We both decided you’d move on with Marian.”

“Yes, we did, but it doesn’t change the fact that it hurt you. And for that, I am sorry.”

“It does hurt,” she admits in a barely audible voice. “But…I get it.” She offers him a meek smile. “I’ve thought about what I would have done if all of the sudden I was presented with the chance to start a new life with Daniel…and…I get why you did what you did.”

“I didn’t stop loving you.”

“I know.”

“And when Marian told me that she was pregnant…I…I couldn’t help but wish it were you standing there in front of me, smiling so radiantly, as you told me you were carrying our child.”  
  
Her smile is sad as she takes a long sip of her tea. “Well, that’s another thing we can’t change. That’s just a way that we’ll never be connected.”

He can see her eyes drifting back to the storybook, and he knows she’s thinking that this is just another instance that could have been different had she walked into the bar that night. He can see the guilt of her past seeping in and creating doubt.

“Regina,” he begins softly, again coming to sit beside her. “I have never felt more connected to another person than I do to you–child or not.”

At that, she looks at him. She doesn’t say anything in reply, but waits for him to continue.

“I love you. You, Regina. It’s not conditional. I love you as you are. Whether or not we can conceive a child together doesn’t factor into it.”

Gently, he reaches out, pushing her hair back behind her ear. He lets his fingers linger against her cheek, and he smiles and her eyes finally rest in his.

“But that’s just it…what if I told you that I might want another child?” Her voice is soft, timid almost, but her eyes remain steady on his. “I don’t need a child–I have Henry and I’m helping you raise Roland, but…I just keep thinking…”

She sighs and pauses, collecting her thoughts as he continues to rub her back.

“Before when I was looking at that storybook, trying to picture what our lives could have been like, I started thinking about Henry and the first time he called me ‘mom.’” She smiles at her memory and he can’t help but smile, too. “He’d said the word before, but this time was different–he was talking to me, looking directly at me, calling me.” Again, her smile brightens. “And the feeling I got in that moment…I just…want to experience that again, especially now that I have someone to share it with.”

He hears her exhale a breath and with a slightly shaky hand, she reaches for her tea and takes a long sip.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs over the rim of the cup. “I’m all over the place tonight.”

“I’m glad we’re talking about this though,” he tells her in a soft but earnest voice. “Regina, I…”

She turns to face him, her voice cutting in over his. “With this baby, what exactly is my role?”

Robin takes a moment to sip his own tea. For weeks, he’s avoided addressing this topic in an effort to spare her feelings; yet now, feels as though he’s disregarded them completely.

“I know we said we’d do this together, but that can mean a lot of things.”

He nods, and takes a breath. “Zelena is not this child’s mother. Biologically, she may be, but she sees the baby as a pawn and nothing more. Given the way she’s already tried to use this child, the way she’s acted toward us and our family…I don’t want her anywhere near the baby.” With a sigh, he reaches over, covering his hand over hers and giving it a soft squeeze. “This baby deserves a mother…and in my heart, I’ve always saw you as her mother, or rather hoped that you’d want to be her mother.”

“Her?”

He watches a small smile curl across Regina’s lips. “Just a hunch.”

“I think it’s going to be a girl, too.”

“You’ve thought about it?” His voice piquing in surprise, causing her small smile to deepen.

“I have,” she admits quietly, her fingers again tracing the outline of his tattoo. “Why didn’t you tell me that…that you wanted this baby to be ours?”

“I didn’t want you to feel obligated. I didn’t want you feel like I was pushing off this responsibility on to you.” He sighs, “So much of your life has been decided for you, just thrust upon you…and…I didn’t want this to be another one of those things.”

“I will admit I’ve found myself surprised by how strong me feelings are for this child, that I’d want to be her mother. And, at first I thought its because she’s yours, but I slowly came to realize…it’s more than that.”

He looks over at her, smiling as his breath catches at the back of his throat.

“This baby–this little girl–is part of our happily ever after, just as much as Henry and Roland are.” Her fingers press against his palm and again, she smiles. “This baby is one of the bright spots in our lives, too.”

“Zelena isn’t just going to…give up, though. She’s going to fight us.”  
  
With a soft sigh, she rests her head against his shoulder. “Well, we both know I love a good fight–especially when I’m fighting to protect my children.”

Leaning in he presses a kiss to her hair, his heart swelling with love and gratitude for her–that she’s so easily accepted him and his children into her life, into her happily ever after–that her happily ever after is also his.

For awhile, there’s a comfortable silence between them–a tired calm clouded with relief for the unwitting conversation they’d needed to have.

“Should we go back up to bed?” He asks finally.

“In a few minutes, I want to finish my tea.” She leans against him, casting her eyes upward. “Thank you…for getting up, making me tea, keeping me company…for listening.”

Dropping a kiss atop her head, he smiles, whispering both his gratitude and love.

She settles back against him, and takes another sip of her tea. “I may have waited a lifetime for this, but…it was worth the wait.”


End file.
